Where You Work Is How You Work
What Human Design Reveals About Your Environment and Leadership Style
It’s no surprise that your outer world affects your inner clarity.
There’s a reason I’ve been working so much more productively lately. Instead of spending 9–5 at the desk in my home office, I’ve actively sought more movement and different spaces to create each day. Whether spending a few hours at a new coffee shop, grabbing time with a client at a co-working space around LA, or taking a call while walking my dog, something shifted—and I no longer end the day energetically drained.
The short of it: I’ve stopped forcing myself to work in the “right” way and started listening to the energetic truth of how I work best. As someone with a Shores environment in Human Design, I’ve discovered that I thrive in transitional spaces (both physical and energetic). Whether shifting between coaching meetings, design work, and writing, or taking a break to water the plants in our garden or run out to a yoga class, I feel most aligned when I’m not fixed in one mode. Honoring this flow has changed everything about how I lead, create, and show up.
In Human Design, there's a powerful element called Environment. It's part of your unique energetic blueprint that describes the physical and energetic space where your body feels safe and your mind gets clear. It's less about what the space looks like and more about how it moves, holds, and regulates you.
This piece is game-changing for founders, creatives, and conscious leaders. When you're not in the right environment, leadership gets muddy. You second-guess yourself, overextend, and stall.
But when you're in the right space? You unlock natural magnetism, clear decisions, creative flow, and grounded presence.
What is Environment in Human Design?
Think of your HD Environment as the terrain your energy was built to thrive in. It’s not about interior design or ideal vacation spots (though that can overlap)—it’s about the sensory, energetic, and situational conditions that help your nervous system regulate and your intuition speak up.
Environment lives under your chart's “Variables” section (those four arrows). We grow into it with age and awareness, usually becoming most activated after age 30. That’s why so many people feel stuck or “off” even after building a successful life—they’ve outgrown their default environment.
How the 6 Environments Influence Your Leadership
Caves
Energetic need: control, protection, a curated environment
Leadership vibe: strategic, intentional, deeply grounded in safety
Thrives when: you can control who has access to your energy
Think: private offices, cozy nooks, using noise-canceling headphones, repositioning your desk to face the door, setting boundaries around communication access
Markets
Energetic need: exchange, visibility, and shared resources
Leadership vibe: community-builder, connector, idea cross-pollinator
Thrives when: you’re sharing value in a public-facing way—events, content, product launches, or gathering spaces. Markets need others to exchange with
Think: getting your ideas out into the world by posting regularly, hosting gatherings, creating a space to offer and exchange
Kitchens
Energetic need: alchemy, experimentation, transformation
Leadership vibe: creative visionary, collaborative innovator
Thrives when: you're in a space that lets ideas simmer and transform
Think: studios, co-working spaces, sacred creative zones, or even your own kitchen table
Mountains
Energetic need: altitude, distance, clear perspective
Leadership vibe: visionary, long-term strategist
Thrives when: you have literal or metaphorical elevation
Think: hilltop homes, upstairs offices, mountain hikes, or solo retreats. You need space to zoom out and see the whole picture
Valleys
Energetic need: acoustics, intimacy, detail
Leadership vibe: quiet powerhouse, deep listener, trusted advisor
Thrives when: you’re in low-stimulation, low-noise environments with room for depth
Think: one-on-one convos, DMs, small groups, and detail-oriented work that lights you up
Shores
Energetic need: transition zones, edge spaces, movement between worlds
Leadership vibe: adaptive, bridge-builder, fluid creative
Thrives when: you're not boxed into one way of being
Think: working near water, between communities, or even moving between projects or disciplines helps you stay in energetic flow.
What If Your Current Environment Doesn’t Match?
You don’t have to quit your job or move to a cliffside retreat in Big Sur (I mean, that sounds so lovely). The key is to tune into the feeling of your environment and create micro-adjustments that regulate your system.
The goal is to give your body safety and resonance cues, activating your clarity and presence as a leader.
Environment may seem like a subtle concept, but it’s deeply somatic. When your body feels “off,” it’s not just stress—it might be dissonance with your energetic terrain.
And when your space reflects your inner truth? You stop exerting and start resonating.
Human Design Is Only Part of the Story.
Along with Human Design, I love layering in other core systems to get a deeper and more holistic view.
Your Enneagram reveals why you seek specific environments. (Do you crave order? Variety? Beauty? Control?)
Your Astrology hints at what energizes or soothes you, whether it's nature, routine, stimulation, or solitude. (Ever notice how Virgo placements organize when stressed, or how Fire Moons pace when stuck?)
These layers aren't just interesting. They're transformative.
This is the kind of synthesis I bring to Source Signature.
Inside each Source Signature report, you’ll find your Human Design, Astrology, and Enneagram info pulled into a personalized blueprint so you can lead, create, and work in complete alignment. The depth is beautiful.
This is the kind of exploration that lights me up.
Subscribe to stay close to the unfolding.
~Jess
This is wonderfully awesome!